It didn’t rain this week, but the rain lilies didn’t care. There was enough humidity to send them into bloom.
The “pencil lead bees” responded right away.
We call these tiny bees “pencil lead bees” because they are only the size of a pencil lead.
They are actually sweat or digger bees.
Do you think they are collecting nectar or pollen?
(Hint: remember what the yellow structures are in the flower.)
The fun thing about Bug of the Week is that sometimes you spot a critter that has been there all along, you just haven’t paid attention to it before. Today’s spider is an example of this. Here’s a little spider that has built a web in the corner and is hanging from it.
It is a tiny little spider, it’s body is less than 1/3 of an inch long. I have seen these spiders many times before with their long front legs stretched out in front, but they are so small, I never really looked at them carefully.
In a closer view you can see the front legs have a soft, feathery appearance, which led to the common name of feather-legged orb weaver. They are also called cribellate orb weavers.
It’s amazing when you look at a macro photograph how the color and details pop out.
I learned from Nature at Close Range that the cribellate orb weavers have no venom, but catch their prey in the hairy front legs.
Now that I have been formally introduced to my fuzzy little neighbor, I’ll be sure to pay more attention to it in the future.
If you or your children are interested in learning more about your spider neighbors, try:
I have more information about these books at baby spiders and some books.
We found some of these in the bottom of a potted plant we brought home from the nursery this week.
Although it has antennae, it definitely has too many legs to be an insect larva.
In fact, you can see that it has two pairs of legs per body segment. That means it is a millipede.
Millipedes are often found in damp soil or rotting logs. Most feed on decomposing plant matter, so they are nature’s recyclers.
Millipedes do not bite or sting, and are relatively harmless. They do have the ability to emit various chemicals to defend themselves (depending on the kind), so it is best not to pick them up. Their main defense, however, is to roll up into a ball.
If you are interested in finding out more, Enchanted Learning has an information sheet with a nice drawing showing all the parts of a millipede.